Although there were slight breaks in the rain at midday — and even some patches of blue sky — the showers and their effects were continuing to plague city crews and police who are dealing with downed trees and another mudslide in La Jolla.

Northern Division Police Lt. Jim Filley said about 1:30 p.m. that the northbound side of Torrey Pines Road leading up from the "Throat" intersection remains closed — and will stay that way until at least 4 p.m. and possibly later — as crews work to remove a "huge" tree that came down on the road. It was right next to where another fell overnight Tuesday.

He said he was unsure whether it was a Torrey pine or eucalyptus tree, but the aftermath totally closed the road in both directions.

The southbound side of the road reopened about 12:20 after all of the debris was removed, he added.

On top of trees being downed, police and emergency crews were dealing with a slide that affected one home on Hidden Valley Road at Via Avola, Filley said.

The residence is in an area where there have been issues with seepage and slides in the past. In addition, several years ago a retaining wall was damaged and not repaired so that whenever there is a big rain water flows heavily down the street.

At this point, Filley said, there is no structural damage but there is a lot of mud in the yard. Police, who spent most of the morning there, called in a city geologist and sensors are in place. They also helped put sandbags around the home as a "temporary solution ... Whenever we get heavy rains, it's scary," Filley said.

Bill Harris, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders, said about 2:10 p.m. that "residents are concerned the hill is moving," but added that there is no evidence that is occurring.

"There's a lot of water and mud flowing ... there's literally mud everywhere," he said. "Right now it's just making people very nervous."

He added that there also have been issues related to the runoff and high tides, which resulted in the city closing flood gates in Pacific and Mission Beach. At La Jolla Shores, the problems were more related to debris including palm fronds blocking drains, which crews have been removing all day, he added.

Rain is expected to continue for the rest of the day but will clear out late tonight or early Thursday, said Ivory Small

of the National Weather Service office in Rancho Bernardo. Those blue clouds are fleeting and the breezes should taper off by about 7 tonight. For the past 24 hours, 1.85 inches of rain had been recorded at Lindbergh Field and another half inch or is expected.